(rhythmic bass music) - [Narrator] Big Arts started in a small cottage.

In the late seventies, a group of local artists on Sanibel dreamed of having a dedicated facility on the island in which to hold their classes, concerts and art fairs.

In the mid eighties, a local realtor donated an old beach bungalow and they had their home.

As Big Arts grew, buildings were added on and on.

Eventually the quaint but crowded cottages could no longer contain Sanibel's burgeoning art scene.

- It was wonderful and it was charming, but we definitely outgrew it.

So we went forward with a capital campaign to build a new facility.

We tore it down April 1st, 2019, and nine and a half months later we opened and it was beautiful and we made it two stories all the way across, so it increased our space.

We have a much bigger stage, so it's great.

Now we have a beautiful space that we can do theater with some sets and things like that.

Also the gallery.

We really wanted a dedicated gallery and it's a beautiful space and we're able to bring in really different shows that we couldn't do before.

We do a wide variety of programming, which was another reason we wanted to build a new facility to meet the demands of what the interests were in the community.

It's just, it's a gorgeous facility and we had seven fabulous weeks.

And then the world turned.

- [Narrator] And that world turning event was of course the COVID 19 pandemic.

- So we had to cancel several events.

We had to cancel our annual fundraiser.

We had to keep things going, not knowing how long it was going to be 'cause we all thought, oh, we'll be back in a month, we'll be back in the summer.

- [Narrator] However, Southwest Florida was still seeing COVID cases spike in the summer, but the Big Arts staff and volunteers were determined to keep the local arts community connected, if only virtually.

- I learned that my staff is extremely flexible and can rise to the occasion.

We've learned that we have loyal supporters and wonderful volunteers and patrons that are still want to be engaged and support Big Arts.

We're learning the tech, of course.

We're learning what's important to people, you know, and what they really feel that they need from the arts.

And so I think everyone's learned to take a breath and it's, you know, we're gonna get through it and we're going to make it happen, which has been nice.

(calming music)